It sounds like The Shovel is participating in anti-semantic attacks and should be reported to the appropriate authorities (Weird Al, maybe?).

But (it sounds like) you’re talking about voluntary grouping, where if you dump 100 people together at a party or networking event or whatever, theoretical-person Amy will vibe best with certain types of people, and so ends up chatting up Cleo, Ming, and Kiara because they share similar interests / humor / whatever – but there’s nothing actually stopping someone from outside of that from walking up and chatting with the newly-formed group. That’s kind of what (I thought) we had now in the fediverse, where for example I can go talk about Australian news on aussie.zone, jump to lemmy.world to talk about fediverse stuff, swing by redd.that to look at Unraid updates (all communities I’m part of), but then browse the incoming feed of everything coming into my instance and view a whole lot of communities which I’m not part of, most of which I never will be. It’s (nearly) all open-by-default. Yes, there’s some blocking / defederation etc, but the default state is that users on one instance can (whether or not they actually choose to) talk to other instances.

If a new user randomly picks any instance from the top 50 (of any fediverse software, excluding maybe Pixelfed since that’s probably the least interoperable with the others) to join up on, chances are very good (but will vary based on personal interest) they’ll be able to participate in like >=90% of the conversations that they want to in the sense that their instance is federating with all the people and communities they’re interested in.

What I’m thinking-out-loud-ing (“arguing” sounds a bit more assertive than what I’m aiming for) is that this might not be how ActivityPub would optimally be used; maybe just because ActivityPub could allow 90% of users to talk to 90% of users, it doesn’t mean that’s actually the best way to use it. Maybe it serves the user’s interests better if there are clusters of “sub-fediverses” instead.

As a grounded example: Beehaw partially self-isolates from the wider fediverse (it’s not just that users could communicate but don’t; the connection is severed) in an effort to better maintain its vibe and values. I had always viewed that as the exception to the norm, but maybe having (e.g.,) clusters of instances that only communicate with a comparatively smaller amount of other instances, say the other instances in its “cluster” plus a few other clusters only (as opposed to most instances communicating with most other instances) is a different – and potentially healthier – way to architect things. So I guess partial, selective federation rather than (what felt to me like) the current goal of “if it uses ActivityPub, we want to communicate with it*”. * with obvious exclusions for spam etc.

but the fediverse is equally suited to federated islands as to one fediverse, right? Most people will want the full fediverse but people can also create their separate spaces if desired.

I guess, yeah, but it has tradeoffs. Each island loses even more diversity of perspective (e.g., political echo-chamber, or building fedi tools that might work well for their island but make no sense for other islands), and making it harder to use as replacements for Xitter / reddit etc.

Like, a lot of discussion happens on topics like “how can we make Mastodon better for former Xitter users?” or the same thing but for lemmy and reddit. Maybe they’re fundamentally not the right questions to ask if the endgame state of federated social media is that it isn’t a direct replacement of centralized services.

Although it wasn’t really specifically the point of the post, reading it’s made me think that maybe the whole idea of “universally” federated social media (even excluding the spam etc) is fundamentally untenable regardless of the technical protocol, and that treating it as the end-goal might not be the play.

Full copy of the email to customers, the relevant part is under “seamless experience” (which raises the question of why they want to buy SelfWealth for >2x market value)

Dear Investor,

As a valued Selfwealth customer, we want you to be among the first to receive any communication regarding important updates for our company and the investing platform you know and trust.

As you may now be aware, on 26 February 2025, SelfWealth Ltd (ASX:SWF) entered into a scheme implementation deed under which Svava Pte Ltd (“Syfe”) has agreed to acquire 100 per cent of the shares in Selfwealth that it does not already own, by way of a scheme of arrangement.

Throughout the Asia Pacific region, Syfe has built a trusted home for more than 250,000 savers and investors, offering share trading services, savings solutions, and fully managed investment portfolios.

Syfe’s investment expertise, technological excellence, and global institutional relationships are expected to serve as catalysts for Selfwealth’s growth following implementation of the transaction, enhancing the digital investing experience for customers across Australia.

What Stays the Same, and What’s Coming Next… a Better Investing Experience with the Same Selfwealth You Trust.

Seamless Experience If the transaction with Syfe is implemented, your Selfwealth account and how you currently invest is expected to remain the same. Rest assured, you will continue to have uninterrupted access to the platform with all the features you know and love remaining as usual.

Expanded Product Offerings If the transaction with Syfe is implemented, over time, we expect to introduce new products, including:

• Savings solutions delivering regular income.
• Managed portfolios to help you achieve life’s most important financial goals.
• An enhanced trading experience with access to more markets and tools to support smarter investing.

Transparent and Affordable Fees We know how important transparent and affordable fees are to you. If the transaction with Syfe is implemented, we do not anticipate making any increase in any of your current fees or charges.

User-Centric Innovation Selfwealth and Syfe share a common vision—putting consumer needs first. Following implementation of the transaction, Syfe’s cutting-edge technology and deep investment expertise will help us continue to deliver a platform that prioritises security, ease of use, and value. Together, we will keep innovating to make your investment journey more intuitive and rewarding.

We’re excited about this new chapter and building for those who matter the most, you, our clients. With Syfe’s support following implementation of the transaction, Selfwealth will continue to evolve, bringing you even more ways to grow your wealth while maintaining the best-in-class safety and reliability of the platform you trust and rely on.

Implementation of the transaction remains subject to various conditions, including Selfwealth shareholder and Court approval, with a shareholder vote anticipated to be held by the end of April 2025.

We look forward to keeping you informed on this and any further developments.

Kind regards,

Craig Keary Selfwealth CEO